Ulic

20 hours ago, LiamB80 said:

I arrived 7 months ago in Thailand and tested positive for covid on the first pcr test while in asq. They moved me to a hospitel where I stayed for the next 14 days. I was never asked to pay anything upfront. Only provide my insurance information. I recovered and was released and no hidden fees costs or insurance reimbursements were required. I walked out of there not paying a dime except what I paid for insurance before arriving.

Which insurance company, and how much did it cost?

So they started 3 years ago, and the plan will take another 5 years. What is going to be their excuse as to why the plan failed and how many years will it take to scrap this plan and request more money to spend on another new plan that will be successful. If they want tourism to return to it's halcyon days of the past it's actually w am quite simple. Just go back to the old requirements. No covid19 testing for fully vaccinated travelers, drop the hotel quarantine, drop the mandatory insurance that doesn't pay anyway, and bring to an end to 90 day reporting if you are living at the same address. Computers and phone apps allow officials to know where you are (just ask Google or Facebook) Keep things simple.

With Chinese tourist numbers down 86%-99% depending on whose numbers you want to quote I am quite certain there will be no illegal Chinese tour guides working in Thailand for at least the short to medium term. 

If only the Thai government made things easier for ex-pat retirees who live in Thailand through low season and high, who spend on an individual basis more than any vacationing tourist. Retirees should be appreciated and recruited, to not made to jump through ridiculous hoops that serve no purposes. 

On 7/10/2019 at 8:02 PM, ChipButty said:

3.2 million I always thought it was 25% 

Actually the standard rate is 1/3 or 33%.

WOW, there is low, and there is low, but that is really, really low. Big trouble ahead next dry season, which seems to have arrived early, as in no wet season this year. 

So the families solution to the problem is, change your name, sweep things under the rug and lay low for 10 years. I am sure if it had not been for the TV station news story they would have been entirely successful.

Going bankrupt/restructuring in the US, expanding in Thailand, go figure.

Girls gotta eat, 50 cent as well. These two are far from the A-listers they once were. Just trying to pay the bills , stay somewhat relevant and keep the dream alive in front of an audience. As far as I am concerned it is up to the governments of the world to pressure Saudi Arabia not fading entertainers. 

3 hours ago, blazes said:

It's shocking, frankly, that no one here (so far) sees fit to call Omar what she is: a racist and a bigot - even Nancy Pelosi yesterday said that to be "anti-semitic is to be anti-American"....well, Omar is on record as hating Israel and calling for a boycott of the country.

 

And why, going back to Tug (above), is it ok for these Squad bigots to use their free speech to spout bigotry, but Trump gets instantly called out for apparently doing the same?

 

No comment?

I don't think Trump is racist (just insensitive and intolerant) and I really don't think Omar is either. She just talked about Jewish/Israeli lobby groups funding politicians in Washington. For that she is called anti semitic. Israel is the third rail, you can't touch it or you are an anti semite. Palestinian apartheid is OK in Israel. The problem is Palestine should have been created at the same time as Israel, and a homeland for the Kurds as well. Plenty of mistakes in the past, not much in the way of solutions now.

Germany's dirty little secret, they have lots of coal and they burn lots of coal. The green energy is just a veneer. They will be burning lots over the next 20 years. No need to worry about running out of power.

A vote along party lines and much ado about nothing. 

I am sure that Russia, China, and the US government has inside information/operatives hacking of Google. Google knows everything as far as I am concerned. Between google and Facebook there is really not much need for foreign spies in any country. All the information of any value is there on the company servers.  

The US effectively cancelled the agreement so there was agreement to breach. Move along, nothing to see here. 

A tax haven combined with banking secrecy laws and the transfer of ill gotten gains by government officials is what comes to mind when I read this. 

Nigerians are famous the world over for their scams with the Nigerian Prince scam and other inheritance scams being the best known in the English speaking world. Romance scams the most popular in Thailand. Glad that this guy was caught and I am confident he will be joining friends in the slammer.  

They really don't need to attend meetings to know which way to vote. Just follow the lead of fearless leader. 

Anyone who believes the stories of North Korea officials being executed with no confirmation. news being released by  South Korean tabloid journalists no less, really is a bit thick. My favorite story was Kim Jong Un's former girlfriend being executed for starring in and distributing porn. Oh well.

Any complaints left on the answering machine will be deleted hourly as will any complaints sent on the LINE APP. 

Catastrophe is a certainty as far as I am concerned, but I stop well short of Thailand becoming a net importer of rice. Thailand may suffer a drought and water shortage but enough of Thailand will get sufficient rain for a poor crop and exports will drop dramatically. It is possible that this is the drought that forces Thailand to adopt "best" water management practices and perhaps they will bring in consultants and start a holistic whole country water management program. We shall see. Until then it will be Bangkok first, Pattaya second. Phuket third, and who cares about anywhere else I am afraid.    

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

This is a weird question but here goes.

I don't have a current U.S. driver's license but I might want a Thai driver's license. However I don't actually ever intend to drive here or own a car here. I assume I would need to pass their actual driving test here. Is there any way to avoid that part?

Why do I want that? Well, its good for I.D. here but more to have a way to rent a car in the U.S., etc. I think I'd have no problem driving there but I just don't want to deal with driving here and I mean NEVER. I mean even with a driving school car.

The driving test for both cars and bikes is really, really, simple. It is the written that is the issue and of course you spend the day watching a 2 hour video and doing the colour vision test and depth perception test, (I didn't have to do the reaction test, I think the machine was broken) Official government ID is always good.

For those who took the test years ago the standards for the multiple choice changed about 3 years ago. It went from needing to score 40/50 to 45/50. This is a huge difference when taking into consideration the poor english wording, and the laws being a little different in some instances. You really need to speak English as a first language to understand some of the questions. Europeans who spoke very good English were failing while I when I took my test. Use Youtube is my strong recommendation. 

13 hours ago, keith101 said:

The problem is the machine they use to do the test will only accept the one answer that has been programmed into it even when there are other correct answers which I found out when I came back after a couple of years away and had to renew my 5 yr dl . I failed the first attempt simply because it would not accept the correct answer I used even though the staff said it was correct but not for their computer .

I am guessing you are referring to the 50 question multiple guess question test. Poorly translated to English from Thai. I really don't know how anyone with English as a second language passes the test. Most farang failed when I took my test and most Thais as well. Needing to score 45/50 is no easy feat with the poorly written/translated questions. That said, it appeared Thais were able to redo the test on the spot, Farang had to come back the next day. I would strongly, strongly recommend anyone taking the test to review the test on YouTube. Extremely helpful. I was able to score a 50/50 and after completing the test the examiner looked at me a little befuddled saying you get 50/50. He then stood up and announced to the others taking the test, "this man get 50/50" I am quite sure that I would have failed by a question or two if I had not reviewed the test on YouTube. As for "agents", I stopped by a visa agent shop. For both licenses (car/bike) with the car license a swap over and the bike licence a complete test, they quoted 9,000 baht. For that it was just a hand holding exercise. Basically taxi service and hand holding/translation and getting you to the correct lines. I passed on that. It took multiple trips for each license, and I don't speak Thai but it really was not any trouble. Two residence certificates, two health checks, and fee payments. The total cost was about 1200 baht. 

Never be first off the line when the light turns green.